If the Atoms Were Not Neutral

In summary: I don't know how to do that either. In summary, because the charges on the electron and proton have the same absolute value, atoms are electrically neutral.
  • #1
Gale
684
2
Because the charges on the electron and proton have the same absolute value, atoms are electrically neutral. Suppose this were not exactly true, and the absolute charge of the electron were less than the charge of the proton by (1.50e-5)e.

now its a 4 part question, i think i can do the other 3, but i don't understand the first part.

1) What would be the net charge in 1.50 liters of water?

(Take the density of water to be 1 g/cm3 and the molecular weight of water to be 18.)

so i solve for the number of moles, and then the number of molecules. and i get 55.55 moles or 3.35x10^25. from there I'm just not sure what i should do. My first thought is to solve for how many protons/electrons in each molecule. I don't happen to have the periodic table handy, but I'm sure i could find it online. But usually he gives us all that sort of info, so i was sort of doubting that's what i had to do. I was thinking maybe there was some easier way. Any ideas?
 
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  • #2
Gale17 said:
Because the charges on the electron and proton have the same absolute value, atoms are electrically neutral. Suppose this were not exactly true, and the absolute charge of the electron were less than the charge of the proton by (1.50e-5)e.

now its a 4 part question, i think i can do the other 3, but i don't understand the first part.

1) What would be the net charge in 1.50 liters of water?

(Take the density of water to be 1 g/cm3 and the molecular weight of water to be 18.)

so i solve for the number of moles, and then the number of molecules. and i get 55.55 moles or 3.35x10^25. from there I'm just not sure what i should do. My first thought is to solve for how many protons/electrons in each molecule. I don't happen to have the periodic table handy, but I'm sure i could find it online. But usually he gives us all that sort of info, so i was sort of doubting that's what i had to do. I was thinking maybe there was some easier way. Any ideas?
figure out how many of each atom are there for example there is one Oxygen for each water molecule, so there is 1 x (# of molecules of water) Oxygen atoms,
Then you can look at the periodic table and find out how many protons/electrons an Oxygen atom has...

can you figure out the rest?

edit: looking over your calculations thus far, they are incorrect, post your work
keep in mind 1 cm^3 = 1*10^-3 L , and molar mass is 18 g/mol
 
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  • #3
ok ya, that's what i was thinking i'd do, but i dunno, i thought that there may be a different way to do it. Awell. A second question: I'm not sure what (1.50e-5)e. means.
 
  • #4
Gale17 said:
ok ya, that's what i was thinking i'd do, but i dunno, i thought that there may be a different way to do it. Awell. A second question: I'm not sure what (1.50e-5)e. means.
I think the first 'e' is actually supposed to be a capital 'E'. This is another way of writing 10^x ... Calculators use this notation often. The second 'e' stands for the magnitued of the charge of an electron which is 1.6022*10^-19 C.
 
  • #5
by the way,, your calculations are wrong so far... post your work so we can figure out what went wrong.
 
  • #6
i figured actually. but the second e? just like a unit, or shouldi multiply by the real charge?

secondly, i forget how to use the periodic table. helium has 1 proton and one electron, i forget how i know about oxygen. is it 8 because that's oxygens atomic number. 8 protons 8 electrons i mean??
 
  • #7
my bad... i did it for one liter. So its 83.33 moles and 5.02x10^25 molecules. 5.02x10^25 oxygen atoms and 1.00x10^26 hydrogen atoms
 
  • #8
Gale17 said:
i figured actually. but the second e? just like a unit, or shouldi multiply by the real charge?
just substitute the charge of an electron for e.
so (1.5E-5)e = (1.5*^10-5)(1.6022*10^-19)C

I can't tell by the way the question is worded whether that is the charge of the new electron, or if were supposed to subtract that amount from the charge of a proton. hmm... I think its the latter.

secondly, i forget how to use the periodic table. helium has 1 proton and one electron, i forget how i know about oxygen. is it 8 because that's oxygens atomic number. 8 protons 8 electrons i mean??
Yes exactly...
 
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  • #9
Gale17 said:
my bad... i did it for one liter. So its 83.33 moles and 5.02x10^25 molecules. 5.02x10^25 oxygen atoms and 1.00x10^26 hydrogen atoms
Yep looks good :smile:
 
  • #10
oops, An easier solution would be to figure out the "new" charge of a water molecule rather than to calculate it for each atom,,, but both methods work just as good, sorry
 
  • #11
new charge of the water molecule? as in??
 
  • #12
"new" as in taking account of the changed value for the charge of an electron that they gave you. Sorry if this confused you... I was just saying that its quicker to calculate the charge of the water molecule rather than calculate the number of atoms, but do it whichever way is easiest for you. If you wan't I can show you what I was talking about when your done.
 
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  • #13
go ahead and show me now, I've done the problem 4 times.
 
  • #14
Gale17 said:
go ahead and show me now, I've done the problem 4 times.
1 H20 molecule has 2 Hydrogen atoms which contribute 1 electron/proton each,
1 H20 molecule has 1 Oxygen atom which contrubues 8 electrons/protons each,

so each water molecule has a total 10 electrons/protons.
Normally the charge of an electron equals the charge of a proton so the charges balance out and the molecule is neutral.
But in this case, the charge of the electron is less than that of a proton by (1.5E-5)e, and since a proton is + , and an electron is -, this means each molecule will have a net positive charge
since there are 10 electrons/protons in a H20 molecule, this means that 1 H20 molecule has a net charge of,
10 * (1 - 1.5*10^-5) * (1.6022*10^-19) C = 1.602*10^-18C

Since there is a total of 5.02*10^25 H20 molecules, the net charge of the whole thing is,
(5.02*10^25) * (1.602*10^-18)C = 8.043*10^7 C
 
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  • #15
Gale17 said:
so i solve for the number of moles, and then the number of molecules. and i get 55.55 moles or 3.35x10^25. from there I'm just not sure what i should do. My first thought is to solve for how many protons/electrons in each molecule. I don't happen to have the periodic table handy, but I'm sure i could find it online.
Just work out the number of protons by dividing the mass of water by the mass of a proton:[itex]1.5 kg/1.67(E-27) = 8.9E26[/itex] protons

AM
 
  • #16
Andrew Mason said:
Just work out the number of protons by dividing the mass of water by the mass of a proton:[itex]1.5 kg/1.67(E-27) = 8.9E26[/itex] protons

AM
Unfortunately that doesn't work because Oxygen has as many neutrons as protons, and the mass of a neutron is the same as that of a proton, so your number calculates approximately twice the number of protons.
 
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  • #17
MathStudent said:
Unfortunately that doesn't work because Oxygen has as many neutrons as protons, and the mass of a neutron is the same as that of a proton, so your number calculates approximately twice the number of protons.
Right you are. This gives you the number of nucleons. So to find the number of protons or electrons, multiply by 10/18.

BTW, you can see that the charge is enormous. The force between two 1.5 kg blocks of water one metre apart would be
[tex]F = kqQ/R^2 = 9E9*8E7*8E7/1 = 5.76E25 N.[/tex] . That is enough to accelerate the Earth (6E24 kg) at rate of 10 m/sec^2.

AM
 
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1. What does it mean if atoms were not neutral?

If atoms were not neutral, it would mean that they have a positive or negative charge, rather than being balanced with equal numbers of protons and electrons.

2. How would the properties of atoms change if they were not neutral?

If atoms were not neutral, their properties, such as reactivity and stability, would be significantly altered. This is because the balance of positive and negative charges is essential for the functioning of atoms.

3. What would happen if atoms were not neutral?

If atoms were not neutral, they would not be able to form bonds with other atoms and molecules, resulting in a lack of chemical reactions and the absence of life as we know it.

4. Can atoms become non-neutral?

Yes, atoms can become non-neutral through a process called ionization, where they gain or lose electrons, resulting in a positive or negative charge.

5. How do scientists study the effects of non-neutral atoms?

Scientists study the effects of non-neutral atoms by creating ionized atoms in controlled laboratory settings and observing their behavior and interactions with other particles. They also use theoretical models and simulations to understand the properties and behavior of non-neutral atoms.

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